How as a South African black woman this CA raised the bar & went from a village school to Partner at EY

• Hi, my name is Zimkita Mabindla and I am a Chartered Accountant from South Africa.
• Growing up in a disadvantaged background, I was always curious about how money works, and reading books from a young age expanded my knowledge of how the world works.
• My career journey was tough, but the rewards of dedication and focus took me from a small village to a Partner at a Big 4 firm.
• Here’s my story of how in spite of several challenges and failures, I relentlessly pursued my desire to become a CA and how education transformed my life as a black woman in South Africa.

Reading books helped me escape my reality and expanded my knowledge

I grew up in a modest town called Butterworth (former Transkei), but our subsection of the township was more poverty-stricken than the middle class.

My siblings and I were sent to a boarding school which was situated in a small village. This made matters worse as the conditions there were horrible compared to our township.

It was during these challenging times that I started to read a lot as it provided me with insight into a world I was not exposed.